Harvey Landry: A Short Story

A tragedy in its own right must evoke emotion and a response from the audience through effective use of several elements evident in Shakespeare’s and Aristotle’s style of tragic writing. The plot progression of a tragedy should be rather specific under the idea which leads, ultimately, to the downfall of the protagonist. Despite the sorrowful story behind Richard Van Camp’s short story “Mermaids,” the exclusion of several core elements from both styles of writing prevent this piece from being classified a tragedy. “Mermaids” lacked the development of a tragic flaw in the main character, Torchy, and furthermore did not lead the character to their tragic demise, Van Camp also excluded the idea of isolating him over time and rather brought him closer to those around him to get over his inner conflict, which is unlike a tragedy.

The author Wes Moore’s father dies at a young age and his mother Joy does her best to keep her son out of trouble. She works multiple jobs to send him to a nice private school once they move to

One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother

In the novel Parrot In The Oven by Victor Martinez, is about a boy named Manny that tries to find what his life is meant to be in the world. Manny is a troubled child that has an abusive dad that only cares about himself. His mom doesn't have time to watch all of Manny’s siblings so his mom only worries about the baby. The things that make my life and Manny’s life relatable is we both struggle with belonging, our dads are not good parents and we have nothing to do with them, and we both want to be honest people.

Family is something one can always rely on. This is especially true for families who have little else. They are our pillars of support and the ones we emulate, even when we find out they are not perfect. As seen in “The Other Wes Moore,” The author and Wes’ family life was the biggest difference in their lives. An outsider looking in might believe the fact they were both from fatherless backgrounds, means they grew up the same way, however the male figure they yearned for, was found in two distinct personalities, who they found they could trust.

‘’I felt so lonesome, all of the sudden. I almost wished I was dead,’’ a quote from the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger which relates to how some teens felt at one point in their life.The novel was published to attract adult readers and has become popular for its themes, motifs, and connections an individual has with the main character, Holden Caulfield.We tend to feel a connection to the struggles of Holden Caulfield as we put ourselves in his shoes and see life through his perspective. The book is still pertinent due to Holden facing challenges such as loneliness and the inability to make a connection to make with a purpose thus the readers see themselves in Holden. Furthermore, the book also relates to teens with the

In the documentary “The Culture High”, directed by Brett Harvey, delve deep into the societal, governmental and mental health effects the drug war has had on modern western society. They discuss the militarization of police and how, in turn, the war on drugs has made drug cartels and the like stronger. Also, they touch on the problem of demand and how there will always be one for drugs. The drug war creates an artificial demand for street drugs, driving up prices and allowing dealers to afford deadly weapons and escalate their business.

With his inevitable death looming just minutes, probably even seconds away, he figured he may as well make the most of the time he had left. If he was going to die, he was at least going to take some of these freaks down with him. He thrust his hands into the vat of goop between his legs, and the targeting arrays came to life. The guns had barely finished their

He also struggles with what every teenager experiences- self discovery. His experience as an Mexican-American teenager heavily influences his conversations with his parents. His ‘oneself against the world’ mentality further assists in his guarded nature. The novel is peppered with thoughts such as; “I don’t know who I am” (pg 194), and “I think I’m trying to find me, Dad” (pg. 65). His guardedness leads him to believe that when people are genuinely giving him affection, they pity him, while the opposite is

This adventure of Taylor Darrington. It all started in the summer of 2014 she went to a cross country practice. She thought it was the worst thing ever! The day she went the coach informed everyone that they were going on a "long run"out in the desert sand. Being her first time running in a few years it was really hard and difficult. That day she decided not to run. The following year, her friends Mitchell and Macey invited her to go again, but she absolutely did not want to go. Although one day they finally convinced her to go, so she did, and she loved it. So she decided to start going every day she decided she wanted to run that school year. Her first race was crazy, she didn't realize how out of shape she was until she finished with a bad

It is evident that the protagonist, Holden Caulfield suffers from depression due to the death of his younger brother, Allie in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Due to Allie’s death, Holden’s actions elicit his own views of the world and the “phonies” around him.  Holden has tunnel-vision to living a simple, happy life and isolates himself from those around him who understand the concept of growing up. Salinger uses a hat, a museum, and a merry-go-round to illuminate Holden’s emotion, the notion of adulthood, and the reality of growing up. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and the studies of Ego, Superego, and Id are used to show the significance of Holden’s behavior in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Everyone has lost someone dear to them, often during their happiest stage- childhood. It feels like a ceiling crashing down, and affects everyone differently. Holden from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye took the death of his brother, Allie, terribly and broke all of the windows in his family’s garage. Even his various addictions are likely related to Allie’s death. Through this and other experiences, all of his innocence is lost, and he became extremely aware of the world’s hardship much too soon. Because of this, Holden Caulfield is very protective of the purity of children, especially his sister Phoebe’s, because his was gone much too quickly.

Laurel lifted her hand to her head, which she ran slowly over the top of her head. She kept her hand on top of her head for a few moments, a sigh escaped her lips. Her head tilted from side to side, as she thought of those that left her here. She wasn’t sure if they left her her for dead or not, there was no way for her to know for sure. A frown spread across her face. She closed her eye as she took in a deep breath, which she exhaled slowly. Her eyes slowly open as she shook her head from, her head lightly nodding. She dropped her hand from her head and placed it against her hip.

Avenue and Jackson Street. Garcia advised she attended Elliott Middle School. Garcia was with two additional students from

Harvey Fierstein is an American actor, play writer and voice actor. Fierstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents that were eastern European Jewish immigrants. Harvey considers himself as an atheist. Fierstein is an openly gay male who often writes columns on gay issues. Over the years Fierstein has received many awards for his plays, films, books, and movie roles, many are based on issues faced by the gay community. Harvey Fierstein wrote “On Tidy Endings” to bring awareness to the AIDs epidemic and “Angels In America” in addition, Harvey first performed “On Tidy Endings” in New York for a program he held Titled “Safe Sex.” However, this play also deals with so many other issues that many people face in their everyday life. In addition to Fierstein bringing awareness to homosexuality and AIDs, he also touches on love and grief. I feel as though Fierstein play “On Tidy Endings” shows us that grief and love have no restrictions, limitations, or boundaries in regards to who or how they impact a person’s life. He also show that love and grief can cause us to form unlikely bonds, friendships, and connections that would have never came about without these two components.